In the existing pharmaceutical dispensing systems, prescriptions are filled in either standard thirty day or sixty day allotments. With such systems, there is no accurate way to inventory pharmaceuticals and/or to audit patient compliance with a pharmacist's or physician's instructions or consumption of the product. This is due in part to the fact that the pharmaceuticals are dispensed in a lot, and not every pill or dose is separately bar coded and traceable.
Certain medications are supplied as part of a foil or paper wrapped blister pack containing a plurality of individual unit doses. A number of devices have been developed to assist a physician, pharmacist, nurse or other medical personnel in administering unit doses contained in a standard blister pack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,025 to Romick and U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,081 to Balz et al. are examples of such devices. Romick discloses a medication dispenser having a top plate with at least one aperture for receiving the blister portion of a blister pack, a bottom plate adapted to engage the top plate so as to confine the blister pack between the plates and having at least one aperture in register with the blister portion, and a bridge spanning the top plate and supported by support members. Balz et al. discloses a dispenser for dispensing a unit dose of a solid product contained in a blister pack. The dispenser includes a housing, a back plate, and a dispensing tray. The blister pack containing product is positioned between the housing and the back plate, whereby the product is dispensed through the back plate into the dispensing tray where it can be acquired for use. A puncture tab is integrated into the back plate for aiding in rupturing the backing of the blister pack to dispense the product more easily.
Although these devices decrease the likelihood of errors in the administration of medication in a health care facility by organizing the blister packs so as to prevent the unit doses from exiting the blister portion until the foil backing of the blister pack is ruptured, the subject devices suffer from a number of limitations. Primarily, the devices are not intended for holding a plurality of different medications and/or varying dosages prescribed as part of a complex treatment regimen. In the existing blister pack holders, medicaments are organized chronologically, according to their respective times of administration. As such, the existing blister pack holders are limited in their ability to provide the flexible dosage administration that is required for situations where the patient's regimen is the subject of frequent dosage adjustments or the patient is prescribed more than one medication to be administered at varying times over the course of a day or over the course of several weeks or months.
Moreover, the conventional designs are not suited for use by a patient in a home, assisted living facility, or other setting remote from the support of health care professionals. As described above, the existing blister pack holders organize medicaments chronologically, according to their respective times of administration. However, they fail to provide a mechanism by which a prescribed medication or dosage can be remotely adjusted in real-time, in response to an unexpected change in a patient's health condition. There is often a delay of several hours, and in some cases, several days, before a patient is able to take a new medication or dosage. During this period, the patient may be confused as to the correct dosing regimen and continue to take doses according to the predetermined sequence provided in the blister pack. In addition, because a new prescription and allotment of blister packs is required every time a dose is adjusted, the patient is must travel to a physician's office and pharmacy. This is particularly disadvantageous to mobility-impaired patients and is a major source of drug non-compliance. Frequently the patient's condition deteriorates, as the patient is unable to continue his/her course of treatment.
An additional shortcoming of the existing medication holders is that they are relatively complicated, requiring manufacture and assembly of various moveable parts. A still further shortcoming of conventional containers and storage devices is that they do not provide a practical means of quickly inventorying the exact amount of medication remaining in a prescription, and the amount of medication consumed by a patient.
In view of the above shortcomings, there is a need for a convenient device for storing and inventorying various therapeutic products and/or varying dosages prescribed as part of a complex treatment regimen.